You need to read this. You really do. You need to hear the truth about yourself.

Are you ready?

You are amazing. You are the only you who has ever lived and will ever live. Ever. There will never be another you even if the world goes on and on for millions of years. No one else – past, present or future – has the exact same blend of personality, gifts, experiences, background, appearance and intellect that you have. No one. You are uniquely crafted; crafted by an Artist that never repeats Himself; crafted by a Creative Hand that delights in making each and every one of His creations a “One-of-a-Kind”.

Likely you will never walk a red carpet with hordes of photographers snapping your picture. Likely you will never grace the cover of “Time”, “Rolling Stone” or “Sports Illustrated”. Likely you will never have a building named after you or a statue in your honor or see your name in lights. In fact, it is likely that in a couple of generations, your name will be forgotten, even by those who are your own kin. Yet you are so important, all the same. In fact, the impact you have on this world will far outlast any memory of who you were.

Like the proverbial pebble tossed in a pond, the ripple effect of who you are will go on and on. It is up to you whether your life will reverberate with the Right or with the Wrong. No matter how insignificant you feel, your life, your existence, has meaning and significance. You are not here by accident. You bring all that is You to this time and place, this day, this moment. How you grasp your significance and what you do with that knowledge has the power to impact your world for generations to come. This is truth because you are the only you who will ever live. Only you can bring what you bring to this life, to this world. And what you bring has the potential to shine with the Good and drive back the dark.

You have to come to grips with the fact that you are vitally important. We need you. We need you to be you, the uniquely crafted you; the you that is the creation of the One who gives life and hope and meaning and purpose.

You need to read this. I know because I need to read it too.

We can all get caught up in the idea that we don’t matter; that what we do really doesn’t matter at all; that we are nothing more than a collection of chemicals destined to be food for worms. This kind of thinking can lead to many things, none of them good. In fact, I believe the creeping callousness, incivility and coldness of our world today can be traced to the fact that most people think very little of themselves. That is, they don’t realize how much their life impacts and influences not just the many lives around them during their time on earth, but also the lives of so many for many years to come.

I’m not talking about being self-centered or arrogant in your view of yourself. I am talking about a much more humble view: the view of the world, the cosmos, and your valuable place in it – as small as it may appear – having a major impact because of the one-and-only-you-ness of you and your life. I am talking about grasping the crucial nature of each and every day you draw breath. I am talking about the value you can instill into the days you have been given and into the world you have been blessed with.

You need to hear this: You are amazing. You are bursting with love and goodness. This is what we are all about at our core. This must be so because we have been made this way. It is when our understanding of that is warped or when others have impacted our world for the Wrong that we loose sight of this fact.

Being an Image Bearer of God means that no matter what you think of yourself, at the most intrinsic of levels you are all that is Right and True. Each of us carries within ourselves the makings of being a creator, a provider, a lover, a friend, a rescuer, a peacemaker; and each of us expresses that as only we can because each of us is uniquely formed and uniquely gifted.

You need to read this because it’s true. And we all need to hear the truth, especially the truth about ourselves.

You are amazing. You really and truly are. So shine on and dazzle us all with your brilliance.